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Post by kg redhead on Dec 11, 2005 8:04:25 GMT -5
The Prisoner was a controversial 1967 UK television series, starring Patrick McGoohan, created by McGoohan and George Markstein. McGoohan's leading character, Number 6, is a former secret agent of the British government. He is held prisoner in a small, isolated yet stylish resort town, The Village, in order to garner—"by hook or by crook"—his personal reasons for resigning the service. Throughout the series, Number 6 cunningly resists his captor's efforts to break his will, and meanwhile investigates the identity of Number 1 and executes various plans for escape. McGoohan also wrote and directed several episodes, often under a pseudonym. With its 1960s counterculture message and themes, the programme has had a far-reaching effect upon science-fiction-fantasy-genre television, and popular culture in general. In 2002, the series won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. In 2005, readers of SFX magazine awarded the series fifth place in a poll of fantasy television programmes. Later the same year, it was revealed that Granada Productions were planning on mounting a remake for the Sky One channel, which will take "liberties" with the original.
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Post by kg redhead on Dec 11, 2005 8:05:08 GMT -5
The series features striking and often surreal story lines, and themes include hypnosis, hallucinogenic drug experiences, identity theft, mind control and dream manipulation.
Though 17 episodes were made, McGoohan originally intended to shoot just seven. The network wanted a full season of 26 episodes, and 17 was decided upon as a compromise. There is debate as to whether the series ended by mutual agreement or cancellation. According to The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series by Robert Fairclough, the series was indeed cancelled, forcing McGoohan to write the concluding episode "Fall Out" in only a few days.
As in Twin Peaks, the viewer sees much of the story from the protagonist's point of view, who often does not understand what is going on. In their attempts to understand, people started watching it compulsively. The final episode caused so much confusion that the television network was besieged by phone calls and McGoohan was even hounded at home by baffled viewers demanding explanations.
The trademark intro title sequence features Number 6 having a fierce argument with his superior and resigning. The hero then drives home in his Lotus Seven. Returning to his flat, he quickly packs his possessions, including photographs of a tropical white sand beach (a clue to his intended destination?). A hearse pulls up and a tall pallbearer approaches the front door. A white gas then floods the room through the keyhole, which renders Number 6 unconscious. The hero awakens in The Village, whose decor and people are of peculiar nautical style and bright colours.
The following dialogue exchange runs over the opening titles of most episodes. The questioner is Number 6 and the respondent is Number 2, the Village chairman (a role occupied by a different man or woman in almost every episode, as the reference to the "new Number 2" indicates):
Where am I? In The Village. What do you want? Information. Whose side are you on? That would be telling. We want information. Information. Information. You won't get it. By hook or by crook, we will. Who are you? The new Number 2. Who is Number 1? You are Number 6. I am not a number — I am a free man! (Laughter from Number 2.)
In some cases, the voice of Number 2 in the above exchange is provided by the actor playing the character in that particular episode. However, in several episodes a different voice is used although the image of the actor playing the role is still shown. In a couple of instances, an image of the Rover is shown instead of No. 2 in order to maintain the element of surprise as to the true identity of the character (most notably in the episode "Many Happy Returns"). A couple of intros also differ in that No. 2 says simply "I am Number Two" - this was used on "A, B & C", which featured Colin Gordon as No. 2 [which was originally intended to be screened after "The General"] for the second time - therefore, he was not the new No. 2.
At the close of each episode, an image of Number 6 appearing behind shutting bars serves as the episode's outro.
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Post by kg redhead on Dec 11, 2005 8:05:54 GMT -5
The location of The Village is not known. In "Many Happy Returns", its location is estimated to be somewhere near "coast of Morocco, southwest of Portugal and Spain" - No. 6 works this out with old colleagues using navigation notes and maps after briefly escaping, and when searching this area is tricked and dropped back there - suggesting this estimate is right, though there could have been subterfuge used by his old colleagues. In another, Lithuania, on the Baltic coast "30 miles from the Polish border" although this may be a deception. In the unbroadcast version of the episode "Chimes of Big Ben", Number 6 constructs a device that allows him to work out The Village's location; this scene was presumably cut to remove this deus ex machina and is not considered "canon" with the rest of the series. The final episode, "Fall Out", while it never reveals The Village's exact location, strongly suggests that it is within driving distance of London; the episode gives no suggestion of ferry travel and the "Chunnel" to France was still decades away from being built.
The Village has a daily newspaper called the Tally Ho and the logo of The Village is a penny-farthing bicycle. The Village is under the control of Number 2 (See below). "Work units" or "credits" serve as currency in Village shops, and are kept track of with a hole-punched credit card. Throughout the village, music plays in the background, nearly all of it alternating between rousing marching band music and lullabies, periodically interrupted by public announcements. The media and signage in The Village consistently incorporate sailing and resort themes.
Scenes of The Village were filmed at Portmeirion, a resort village near Penrhyndeudraeth in Wales, and at MGM Borehamwood Studios in England.
An underground control center monitors closed-circuit television cameras located throughout The Village. Regular observers continually spy on Villagers and foil Number 6's escape attempts with the aid of Rover, a large white balloon-like device that chases and pacifies or kills would-be escapees. Rover was originally intended to be a robotic machine, rather like a Dalek (See Doctor Who), but when the prototype failed to work during the first episode's shoot, the crew noticed a weather balloon in the sky and used this out of inspiration.
Citizens use the phrase "be seeing you" as a farewell, accompanied by a waving gesture consisting of thumb and forefinger forming a circle over the right eye, then tipped forward in a salute.
Number 6 typically wears a very deep brown (often mistaken for black and usually in the episodes appearing as black) jacket with white trim, a blue or black T-shirt, tan slacks, and forsakes his "6" ID badge. There were at least two jackets, with slight differences in the piping. Little is known about Number 6's background other than that he fought in a war and was born on March 19, 1928 (which is also McGoohan's birthday). The flashback setup in "Once Upon A Time" suggests that Number 6 was a bomber pilot, most likely with RAF Bomber Command.
He refuses to reveal the reason behind his resignation, despite constant efforts by Number 2 to get this information from him.
Number 6 initially spends his energy seeking ways to escape, and later in the series turns his attention to finding out more about The Village and its unseen ruler, Number 1. The later episodes feature less action-packed escape attempts and more psychological themes such as the nature of power and authority, and their relationship with liberty. His cunning and defiance only increase while in captivity; in "Hammer Into Anvil" he reduces Number 2 to a mad, paranoid wreck through deception. As the Number 2s become more coercive and desperate, Number 6's behavior becomes increasingly sharp and uncompromising.
The Village is openly administered by Number 2, whose identity changes each episode, though there are repeat appearances (Leo McKern appeared in three episodes). It appears that Number 2's main duty is to break the will of Number 6. The Number 2s answer to Number 1 fearfully. The various Number 2's seem to make use of several symbols of their authority. One of the most striking is the Seal, a large golden medallion, somewhat in the style of a mayoral chain, with the penny-farthing logo and the text "Chief Administrator". This is only seen in one episode, "It's Your Funeral". The two more visible signs are a multicoloured scarf and a colourful umbrella stick (used as a cane). Most, if not all, of the Number 2's seem to use these symbolic objects.
The episode "Free for All" suggests that Number 2s could be "democratically elected by the people." However, this was part of the attempt used by the Number 2 of that episode to break Number 6.
Throughout the series, Number 2 tries to discover why Number 6 resigned. Number 6 refuses to answer, stating only that it was a "matter of conscience," and not open to inquiry. A variety of interrogation, intimidation, drugs, and mind control techniques are used by sequential Number 2s. Number 6's value prevents the Number 2s from using brutal methods—routinely used on other prisoners—against Number 6. Most episodes end with Number 2 being sent home (or to a worse fate) in disgrace, having failed to break Number 6. However, two of these individuals are seen returning to the Village, most notably the final Number 2 (as played by Leo McKern) who appears to hold a position of some distinction. In the final episode, "Fall Out", McKern's character uses the Lord's Entrance in the Palace of Westminster, indicating that he has either inherited a title through birth or received a title from the Crown. An alternative interpretation is that the Palace of Westminster is a symbol of democracy, in contrast to the theme of totalitarianism and the suppression of the individual.
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